Automatica syncs your vehicle to the cloud

Thomas Anderson, 19th December 2012

$99 Automatica syncs audio from the cloud to your car.

Essentially, Automatica is a smart USB device that makes it easy for drivers to take their audio content with them when on the road. The device is designed to automatically sync with various cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and Microsoft SkyDrive via a Wi-Fi connection.

So how does it work? Well, the device creates a local cache of content and is capable of storing 24 hours of audio within its own internal flash memory. If you need more storage, the internal capacity can be expanded using microSD cards.

Internal Wi-Fi connectivity allows the device to automatically download files you place on your cloud storage - so you'll always have your favorite audio content with you on the go. Presumably, if your home Wi-Fi network extends to your driveway, you won't even have to take Automatica inside to sync it with your favorite cloud storage service.

Automatica is designed to plug directly into the USB port inside most modern vehicles, allowing you to play audio content back directly through the vehicles audio interface. The device also ships with a short USB cable and power adapter. Content on the Automatica device can be managed using a free web-based tool, allowing users to add or remove music from the device.

In addition to music files, Automatica is also capable of playing podcasts, audio books, and other audio formats.

As noted above, the audio service works with browsers on mobile devices such as the iPad, iPhone, and Android smartphones and tablets. You can also access the web service on major PC and Mac browsers such as Internet Explorer (IE), Chrome, Firefox and Safari.